The Suffering of Many
by nightassassin480
Summary: After Bowser is defeated and exiled, the Mushroom Kingdom flourishes,but everywhere else in the world begins to crumble.Our story takes place in one of those kingdoms, known as Cord, and follows the tale of how a young Shy Guy lives in the harsh world. Has been rewrote.


**Mario and co. won't really be involved since this is more of a tale of a Shy Guy. This follows no real canon, but if you have to refer to something, go with the Paper Mario series, I'll be using those if I do mention something. This takes place in one of those places, a small kingdom known as Cord. Everyone that lives here has either been outcasted or too poor to live anywhere else. The unfortunate souls that survive here do make money though, in the fight ring named 'The Coliseum' where they often end up fighting to the death for a little bit of money and the enjoyment of the richer folk.**

Prologue

The Shy Guy swung the crowbar hard into the face of the Hammer Bro., knocking him backwards as thick blood spewed from his face. He collapsed onto the ground, writhing in pain. The crowd cheered as he stepped closer to the turtle like creature and raised the crowbar high above his head.

_The crowd,_ He thought,_ How can they watch two beings beat each other to death, and cheer? Cheer, as if they were watching the kart races back in Mushroom Kingdom instead of the deaths of men? What is so wrong with people for them to enjoy this?_

He brought the weapon down hard on the Hammer Bro. blocking out the hard wheezing and gagging sounds as he choked on his own blood. He raised his arms again.

_But am I any better than them? Or worse? I'm the one who is allowing them to enjoy their sick, twisted game. I'm the one doing all the beating. Does that make me worse than the ones watching me do this?_

He brought the crowbar down again, dark blood splattering across his mask. The Hammer Bro. was attempting to get up, trying to fight past the agonizing pain of the broken bones, bruises, and cracks in his shell. He raised his arms once again.

_But I at least have an excuse. I have to go this, to survive; I have to make it out with money. Murder or no murder. If not for me then at least for her.  
_

He hit him again, knocking him back down. He gasped in anguish, trembling at the horrible torture he was going through. He raised his weapon again.

_Oh, sis. I wonder if she's ok. I hope she's still in bed, she really needs her rest. She's never going to get better without her rest._

He started to bring the crowbar down again but he stopped when the Hammer Bro. lifted his arm.

"Wait!" He crocked out, blood dripping from his mouth. "I surrender." He said. And the crowd cheered even louder than before when those two words were spoken. The Shy Guy fell to his knees, letting his weapon drop. He took the Hammer Bros.' head in his hands and tilted it towards him, making sure not to hurt him.

"I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry. Why didn't you stop me? I could have killed you!" He said in a hushed whisper to the beaten turtle.

"Hey…calm down kid. I'm ok…" He said, flashing a pained, cracked, and bloody smile at him.

"No, you are not ok! Next time don't let me go that far!" He said, anger in his voice.

"Kid, it's ok. We… have to make it look good for the watchers… don't we?" The older man said to him.

"Not that good!" He yelled.

"Look kid, we all have… our own reasons for doing …this. You got that… girl don't you?"

"…Yes." He sighed.

"She gotten any better?" He asked, looking behind him as the medical bay doors opened.

"…No…She…She hasn't…"

"Hmm." He said as the medical personal picked him up and placed him on the cloth gurney. "Well, send her my condolences, kid." He mumbled to him right before they picked him up and carried him off. He watched his go until he was inside the medical bay and the doors shut. The announcer was yelling out something, probably talking about how lucky has was to have won. The Shy Guy stood up, looked at the cheering crowd of people and raised his hand in victory.

He was only glad that the white mask he wore hid his face, so no one could see his tears.

~ The Medical Bay~

The Shy Guy sat still on the padded bench, waiting for his nurse to give him the news on his condition. The Boo looked at him with a smile. "Ok dear, looks like nothing is broken or too injured. You can go." She said as she set her board down. He let out a sigh of relief but looked up at her to ask another question. The Boo raised her had to stop him. "I know what you are going to ask, and yes. The Hammer Bro. you fought today is doing fine" Another sigh of relief.

"Thanks Chancy." He said with a nod.

"Anytime." She replied and left the room. The Shy Guy watched her for a minute, until she was out of the room and stood up, moving towards the medicine tray. He began unscrewing caps and dumping pills into his hand them placing them into his pockets. He made sure to grab all the pain killers, headache pills, upset stomach pills and anything else that was on the tray. He even grabbed a whole jar of healing gel and bandages. Finally after stuffing his pockets and hearing footsteps, he darted back to his seat and sat down just as the nurse came back in.

"Well, I already checked you out so you're free to go." She said, oblivious to the fact that she was just robbed.

"Thanks again." He said, and then darted out of the medical bay as fast as he could.

_Sorry Chancy,_ He though as he left that part of the building, _It's for the best. _He then headed up to the main room, where the boss lived, to collect his payment. After a long walk he finally reached his destination and knocked on the large door. No one answered and he was about to knock again when he hear someone clear their throat loudly behind him. He turned to see a tall female Goomba standing behind him. His boss' secretary.

"I'm sorry, but the boss is out right now. I'm afraid he has more important things to do that give you _low-lifers _the time of day." She said, moving her long, slender fingers up to her glasses and fixing them then brushed a stray piece of her brown hair back behind her ear.

He made a face under his mask but respectfully said, "I just want my pay miss."

She snorted. "All you pathetic whiners ever want is your pay." She looked down at her clipboard and looked back up to him. "And I believe you are 'Shy Guy'. I have been ordered to give you your _pay_." She said as she pulled out a small bag and tossed it to him, which he caught. She snorted again, apparently hoping that he would have missed the bag. "Anyway, all one-hundred coins are there. Now, if you will excuse me, I have important things to do. You should probably go do something productive too." She stepped closer to him. "Like go die in a ditch somewhere." She growled at him before walking down the hall.

"Only after you, _miss._" He growled and continued walking, getting out of the building as fast as he could.

~The Black Market~

"You sure you only want three raw chickens?" The farmer Dry Bones asked him, handing the Shy Guy his change. "Buy one more and I'll throw in a free slab beef." He offered.

"No thanks. This should be fine." He said, picking up the chickens and stuffing them into his bag.

"Whelp, I feel mighty bad about not being able to do anything more for ya son. You are one of my best customers."

"It's ok…really." The Shy Guy assured him, waving his hand in front of him.

"No son, it's not…I know!" He said, reaching under the table. "Here ya go, two loaves of fine bread, on me!" The farmer said with a smile.

"Honestly? Farmer Dishen, I owe you one. Thank you." He said as he took the loaves.

"For what?" The farmer questioned.

"The bread." The Shy Guy replied.

"What bread? I didn't give you any bread." He said with a wink. The Shy Guy smiled and shook his head.

"Well thanks anyway." He said before turning around and taking off.

~Home~

He looked up at the small cottage in the middle of the small clearing in the woods. The Shy Guy sighed and walked up to it, opening the door and stepping inside. It smelled awful, like rotting wood and dead animals, but it was home. He made his way to the short table in the middle of the room and sat down on the floor next to it. He sat his bag on the floor, set the pills from his pockets onto the table, and put is elbows on the table, his face buried in them. He sat like that, silently, until he felt a slender hand on his shoulder. He sighed. "You should be in bed." He said.

"I know. But I wanted to see you." A girl's voice said from above him. He put his hands down and looked up at the thin, human standing behind him. She smiled softly down at him before sitting next to him. She looked small, horrifyingly so. Smaller than any Shy Girl ever should look- sick or healthy. He just sighed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulled her against him.

"I only say that because I care."

That earned him an annoyed groan in response. He simply chucked a bit and patted her shoulder. They continued to sit there a bit longer before he stood up and walked over to the pot where they cooked. "I got some chicken at the market. I was thinking I could make a some soup with it. You ok with that?"

He looked over his shoulder at the younger Shy, watching her as she slowly nodded. The hood part of her pink hoodie was down and her mask was up on her head like a visor, but her face was still covered in dark shadow. He nodded back and began moving some of the wood from the small stick pile till it was under the pot. He heard a small noise and looked up to see the Shy Girl crawling back into her bed, shivering. He sighed from under his mask and turned back around, picking up the match box. He opened it and pulled out a match, noting that they only had three left. With a flash of sparks the match was lit and in turn the small pile of sticks was soon lit too. Quickly so as not to waste the warmth he dumps some water into the pot and grabbed a chicken, tossing it into the warming water.

Glancing over to where his sister was he watched her for a moment before turning back to the fire. He didn't like seeing her suffer. He didn't enjoy it. He would have done anything to make her better, other than stealing pain killers to help ease the pain for a few hours. He could still remember her laugh. She was so happy when she was young, when Bowser still held power, when mother and father were still alive and cared for them.

He could still imagine her smiling face when he was let one leave for a few days, how happy she was to have her brother there with her. It was cruel and pointless. It all was. She didn't deserve all this. She wasn't apart of the army. He clenched his fists, gritting his teeth as tears began to well up underneath his mask again. It wasn't fair that she could live a happy, safe life. None of this wouldn't have happened if they hadn't been forced out of their home. None of it. He slammed a fist onto the floor, flinching as it make a loud thump. He looked over the the still body underneath the thin blanket and sighed with relief when she didn't wake up. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the few coins he had in his pocket, counting them slowly. He counted nine and replaced them into his pocket. He was trying to save as much money as he could, so they could get out of this place. Out of Cord, maybe even be able to move to the Mushroom Kingdom, and then she could get help and get well again, and then we would be able to live happy lives for once.

But he knew that the chances of that happening were unlikely.

It was just nice to dream every once in a while.


End file.
